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Newbie help

Hi all,

I have read some of the posts concerning which distro to select and have a couple of questions. I'm experimenting with Linux at home building a file and email server for a new small business. Need some advice for my application.

Which Linux to choose? Redhat, Mandrake, FreeBSD or something else.

Within each Distro is there a version that works best as a server? Redhat has pro, Mandrake has corporate edition, etc.

Which email server to go with? Sendmail, Qmail, etc.

Anything I am missing?

Since I am just experimenting at this point I don't want to buy the retail versions of anything.

Being new at this I would like something thats fairly easy to install and user friendly. I did download Redhat 7.2 and installed it to a certain point. Found it fairly easy and user friendly. (I was able to get internet access and configure a network printer)

Re:Newbie help

Well if your building a Linux box for a business I would go with RedHat, and the Pro version makes no difference. It just comes with more software on the CD, and perhaps the book or two for reading.

For you e-mail program I would either choose Postfix, or Qmail, as Sendmail is highly insecure. Postfix was intended to replace Sendmail. Qmail is touted as unbreakable, and there is a reward for anyone who can hack into it.

Re:Newbie help

Originally Posted by sirvodka

Hi all,

I have read some of the posts concerning which distro to select and have a couple of questions. I'm experimenting with Linux at home building a file and email server for a new small business. Need some advice for my application.

Which Linux to choose? Redhat, Mandrake, FreeBSD or something else.

Biased opinion, Red Hat ;D

Within each Distro is there a version that works best as a server? Redhat has pro, Mandrake has corporate edition, etc.

For what you list you want to use it for the "Pro" versions are not going to be necessary. The only advantage really would be the longer support available direct from Red Hat.

Which email server to go with? Sendmail, Qmail, etc.

Sendmail can be difficult to configure, especially for a newbie. I can't speak personally, I never had a reason to configure an e-mail server for my own use. Going to have to get around to it one of these days. Alot of Red Hat users I know use Postfix. http://www.postfix.org. Supposely alot easier to configure. I don't know anything about Qmail, other then Red Hat doesn't ship it because of something in the license.

Re:Newbie help

Originally Posted by JimH

Originally Posted by SkyNet

as Sendmail is highly insecure.

It is?

Jim H

Yes, Postfix was created with the intent to correct the security holes in Sendmail, and be the successor to Sendmail. I'm not entirely sure about this part, but Postfix I think is backward compitiable with Sendmail.

Re:Newbie help

Which Linux to choose? Redhat, Mandrake, FreeBSD or something else.

If it's stricly to be used as a server, I go with BSD, Debian, or Slack - in that order for reliabilty's sake. If it's going to double as workstation, then Definately *not* BSD, but almost any linux distro that's up to date should fare you well.

Which email server to go with? Sendmail, Qmail, etc.

I'd love to be able to tell you, but no mail servers on my end =/
($#$%$%*@#(@# ISP...)

Since I am just experimenting at this point I don't want to buy the retail versions of anything.

You shouldn't need to purchase a distro, if you have the time, download to your heart's content. I know Redhat offers suport with their "Pro" version, but I've also talked to some folks that have mentioned that they might as well have called AOL's tech support for help.
Usenet and boards like tend to be a better way to go, and you aren't charged per call.

Being new at this I would like something thats fairly easy to install and user friendly. I did download Redhat 7.2 and installed it to a certain point. Found it fairly easy and user friendly. (I was able to get internet access and configure a network printer)

If you find it simpler to get up and running to suit your needs, then go for it.

Re:Newbie help

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking about just trying out a few and see which ones I like best. A little time consuming but it should be a good learning experience.

I know you can load Linux on a pc that already has MS Windows for a dual boot but can you load multiple versions of Linux on 1 hard drive and choose which one to boot? I have a 40gb hdd and was thinking of loading 4 distros at 10mb each.
Is this possible?

Re:Newbie help

Originally Posted by sirvodka

I know you can load Linux on a pc that already has MS Windows for a dual boot but can you load multiple versions of Linux on 1 hard drive and choose which one to boot? I have a 40gb hdd and was thinking of loading 4 distros at 10mb each.
Is this possible?

Thanks,

Steve

But of course....and Linux should set up Lilo for you automatically....remember Linux can do anything! ;-)

Even do your dishes if you use Emacs ;D

Aragorn

If you give a man a fire he'll be warm, if you light the man on fire he'll be warm for life.

Re:Newbie help

What would be the best way to partition the hard drive. I noticed when you install Redhat and pick auto partitioning it creates at least 4 partitions. Can the distros be installed on only 1 partition each and does that partition need to be root? Is there any documentation anywhere with instructions on how to load multiple distro's?

Re:Newbie help

Hmmm, I am not familiar with any docs for installing multiple Linux distro's on a single drive. Sounds like a great idea for a write up. ;D The best way would probably be to install each distro in it's own partition. Although a shared /boot partition for all would probably work. You could definitely share swap partitions. You will probably have to manually configure grub or lilo, whichever you choose to use, after the first install. I would expect the other installers to just overwrite the other bootloader. I remember having this problem when I had multiple distro's installed. It as been a LONG! time since I did this. I don't remember what all the issues were.